The number of successful cyberattacks per year per company has increased by 46% over the last four years. But what really needs to be considered when exploring a solution? What questions need to be asked? Download to find out...

However, the bill might not necessarily lead to a disclosure of such flaws to software vendors. Instead, it would kick-off a review process when any government agency discovers a security flaw in any technology. The review process would be chaired by the Department of Homeland Security, not the NSA.

The bill would establish a legal framework by which any security flaws could be examined and, possibly, reported to the software vendors or publicly disclosed - or, the board might choose to keep it secret for national security purposes.

In addition to a representative from the Department of Homeland Security chairing the board, it would also include the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and representatives from a handful of other US government agencies.

"Striking the balance between US national security and general cyber security is critical, but it's not easy," said Senator Schatz in a statement. "This bill strikes that balance," he claimed.

The NSA has been criticised not only for discovering and using a series of security floors, but also failing to disclose those flaws even when it knows they have fallen into the hands of hackers, or the intelligence agencies of other countries.